Woman calls for change after plow pushes a metre of snow in front of her driveway

KITCHENER --
A high pile of snow at the end of her driveway has left a Kitchener homeowner feeling like she's been left out in the cold.

Amanda Reed says that the city snow plow dumped more than a fair share of snow in front of her house.

The woman lives on a corner lot. She says that the plow pushes snow from around the corner into her driveway.

Video from a doorbell camera shows the plow turning the corner and dumping the snow right at the end of the driveway.

Reed says the pile was between three and four feet high, blocking her in.

She says it took her three hours on Sunday to shovel out her driveway after it happened.

The woman has contacted the city to complain, but the city says that's proper plowing procedure.

"There's lack of accountability for the city, but they put all the accountability on the citizens, that, if the snow and ice is not removed from their owned sidewalks then they will fine the citizens of Kitchener," Reed says.

The City of Kitchener says the plow operator followed proper plowing procedure.

"In a snowfall event, our first priority is opening up the road," explains Roads and Traffic Director of Operations Roslyn Lusk.

"So we do a first pass to open up the road and get people moving and then we'll come back later on to clear that back and push back towards the curb."

She adds that there's no practical way of clearing the roads without pushing the snow to the side, saying more snow tends to end up on corner lots.

But Reed says the city should consider alternative plowing measures, like a block that can be added to plows that keeps snow from blocking driveways.

The city says that kind of upgrade is not suitable for an urban centre.

"It would really slow down our service and delivery, and there's physically no space to bring a blade up and down," Lusk says.

The City of Kitchener says operators try their best to limit the impact on its residents.

If someone has similar concerns they can call the city and someone will investigate the issue.